Letter to the Editor, NYT (published!)

To the Editor:

In “The Laws Cops Can’t Enforce” (Op-Ed, July 31), George Gascón effectively documents the risks to constitutionality and social justice posed by a status quo lacking a comprehensive domestic immigration policy.

But no legislation, however comprehensive, will succeed without an international component. The most important step Washington can take to control immigration would be to help reduce poverty in Mexico and Central America, lessening the economic need that pushes the poor north.

Daniel Nemser
San Francisco, Aug. 1, 2008

Letter to the Editor, NYT (unpublished)

To the Editor:

While I appreciate your coverage of the EPR ("With Bombings, Mexican Rebels Escalate Their Fight," Sept. 26), you draw connections far too easily between them and the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO, for its Spanish acronym). While the former is a revolutionary group fighting to overthrow the Mexican state, the latter is a broad coalition of civil society and political organizations that united to confront the notoriously corrupt and repressive government of the dinosaurian PRI in Oaxaca state. The assembly, which makes strives to make decisions based on consensus, formed spontaneously in response to the state's decision to repress a teachers' strike in June 2006 and has faced continued mortal attacks, unwarranted arrests, and propagandistic media blitzes to the present day.

Instead of identifying "anger among radical leftists" as the primary cause of these bombings, as well as the upsurge of progressive organizing throughout the country (the APPO and the Zapatistas are notable examples), I would have pointed to the devastation left by neoliberal economic policies and violent political repression.

Daniel Nemser

Letter to the Editor, NYT (unpublished)

To the Editor,

Re "Hobbling Mexico's Democracy" (editorial, Sept. 13): I strongly disagree with your assessment of Mexico's Federal Electoral Institute (IFE in Spanish). Not only did the organism ignore illegal campaign advertising, as you note, but it did nothing to prevent (or later punish) then-President Vicente Fox's unconstitutional participation in Felipe Calderon's campaign. Furthermore, even the IFE admitted that electoral fraud had occurred, that ballots had been fixed or miscounted -- the only response was that it wasn't enough to affect the results. How that was determined remains unclear.

A common graffiti I saw last year in Oaxaca when I was reporting on the Mexican election comes to mind: IFE = Instituto de Fraude Electoral.

Daniel Nemser

Letter to the Editor, NYT (unpublished)

To the Editor:

Re "Bush's Talks With Neighbors Are Overshadowed By Storm" (Aug. 20): Your coverage would be more valuable if it reported less on natural obstacles and more on human ones. The protesters, who make a brief appearance in the final paragraph, are apparently against "the trade goals of the three nations" -- but these goals remain unspecified. The protesters therefore end up seeming both irrational (after all, who would oppose the goals of three sovereign, eminently reasonable nations?) and entirely negative (that is, without concrete, creative proposals). Many Mexican social movements protesting the violence and repression that comes with neoliberal globalization, however, have clearly expressed visions of alternative societies. I wonder if this picture would clear up if protesters, as well as politicians, were given the opportunity to share their opinions.

Sincerely,
Daniel Nemser

Letter to the Editor, NYT (unpublished)

To the Editor:

How can an Op-ed page dedicated to immigration (June 1) completely overlook its root causes? Immigration can't be "solved" with national IDs or more border security, because the economic need south of the border is simply overwhelming. The U.S. government should instead reconsider the effects of free trade agreements like NAFTA, which has decimated the Mexican countryside by flooding the market with highly subsidized corn -- while at the same time requiring Mexico to eliminate its own agricultural subsidies. Forced off their land, Mexican agricultural laborers resort to the country's large cities for many times exploitative (and certainly scarce) industrial jobs. When these attempts fail, for whatever reason, they are forced to head north. No U.S. immigration policy can succeed without taking these economic considerations into account.

Sincerely,
Daniel Nemser

Letter to the Editor, LA Times (unpublished)

To the Editor:

I was pleased to see your coverage of the Mexican Supreme Court's upcoming decision on the "Ley Televisa," which would be disastrous for free speech and consolidate media monopolies ("Court to Decide Battle of Airwaves in Mexico," May 12). It is important to remember that these are not merely abstract, constitutional issues but have devastating effects on people's lives. May 3 marked the one-year anniversary of the Mexican government's violent repression in the town of San Salvador Atenco, where 3500 federal police beat, raped, and arrested hundreds of men and women, murdering a 14-year old boy and a university student. TV Azteca and Televisa played a leading role not in covering the violence, but in actively calling for it -- squashing what little hope we continue to hold for objectivity. We can only hope the Court strikes down this law in the interest of not only free speech, but also human rights.

Sincerely,
Daniel Nemser